4th Advent – Jesus our Foundation Of Renewed Hope and Peace

4th Advent – Remembering that Jesus is our Foundation Of Renewed Hope and Peace Friends, I’d like to take you on a journey through Scripture today. A journey where we listen to 3 different voices regarding the coming of the Messiah and the impact His coming had on mankind and history. We are going to listen to the voices of the apostle John, Luke, and Paul. John 1:1–3, 14 (NIV84) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made… 14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Luke 2:1–14 (NIV84) 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.” Acts 13:16–17 (NIV84) 16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; He made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power He led them out of that country, … Acts 13:22–25 (NIV84) 22 After removing Saul, He made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ 23 “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Saviour Jesus, as He promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you think I am? I am not that One. No, but He is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ Titus 2:11–15 (NIV84) 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. Titus 3:4–7 (NIV84) 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, 5 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, 7 so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. “The Word was made flesh and pitched His tent among us.” This is the literal translation of John1:14. The Greek word for dwelt means “tabernacled” or “pitched tent.” To the Greek reader, familiar with the Old Testament, this would have easily brought to mind the Old Testament tabernacle. This is what John says: “Jesus was God’s new tabernacle. God, in Jesus, dwelt among people. The man living with the disciples was God incarnate!” Friends, John was overwhelmed with this truth. He is saying, “We had a glimpse of His grace and His truth, and in it we saw the glory of God.” John tells us that he saw grace and truth revealed in the glory of Jesus’ incarnation. Yes, John 1:14 says a great deal; John’s enthusiastic observation gives us an image of grace that is very inviting, but it is Luke in his account of the birth of Jesus who speaks in concrete terms about what that “tent pitching” really meant. Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus is much more than an unforgettable story for children. Luke related the events he recorded to world history. It happened during the days of Caesar Augustus while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone under Roman rule were affected because everyone had to go to his own town to register in the census. Most Jews hated taking part in a census because they viewed it as sacrilegious. God alone was allowed to number his people. This brief history revealed that the Romans ruled the civilized world at that time. By contrast, Joseph controlled very little. All he could do was to comply with the Roman order. So, Luke tells us that he travelled with Mary to Bethlehem. However, Luke 2 reminds us in no uncertain terms that God controls all history. By the decree of Emperor Augustus, Jesus was born in the very town prophesied for his birth (Micah 5:2), even though his parents did not live there. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because God used the emperor’s decree to fulfil His will. And by His will, the greatest event in history occurred! The Messiah had been born in Bethlehem! Friends, for ages the Jews had waited for this to happen, and when it finally happened, there was a twist in the story. And the twist is, of course, that God used the pagan authorities to bring Jesus to Bethlehem. Augustus, like Cyrus before him, unknowingly became the servant of God’s purpose. I think that there is a profound message here: God’s promises are often fulfilled through the actions of the least likely of people. For God is Lord of all the earth and there is no power not under his authority, no person He cannot use. On this Advent Sunday you and I are reminded that the good news about Jesus is that He became flesh to save all types of people, including the plain, the ordinary, and the outcasts of society. He came so that anyone with a heart humble enough to accept Him could be saved. The birth of Jesus is related to the highest ranks of world government as well as to the most menial members of the working class, the sheep herders. Jesus belongs to the rich and the poor, and while his predilection always tended toward the poorer class, the wealthy were never excluded from his saving mission. But the shepherds too are part of the story of God among us. The blue-collar worker, the immigrant labourer, those who work for the minimum wage (and sometimes less)—these are the people who play a vital part in our society but are often voiceless. They are the shepherds of modern society for whom the good news is also destined. We are required to be concerned about the less fortunate among us. In the face of the evident needs of people, a voiceless Christianity is an inexcusable anomaly. This is what the shepherd story means today. The words of the angel in Luke 2:10–11 provide its theological focus. The “good news” is focused not so much on Jesus’s birth as such, but on the role He has come to fulfil. The angels called the baby Jesus the promised Messiah—the Saviour. For as the promised Messiah He is the source of salvation. In Acts 13 Luke provided this sermon of Paul as a proclamation of the good news. He begins with a reminder of God’s initiative to choose and save Israel (Acts 13:16b–25); the rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ (Acts 13:26–37); and the appeal to believe (Acts 13:38–39). We only listened to some verses from God’s initiative to choose and save. In a nutshell Paul’s message is that God has sent the Son of David, the Saviour Jesus, and that through Jesus salvation is now available for Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. Paul is assuring the audience that Jesus comes with a glory and mission that outdoes those of just ordinary national rulers. God has personally sent Him, and we need to repent and humble ourselves to receive Him. Paul’s view of Israel’s history shows that the inclusion of the gentiles in God’s people was not coincidence; God had planned it (Luke 24:47). We might ask if the people living during the various times that Paul covers in this passage understood what God was doing at the time and where it would lead in the future. I suspect that most would have been utterly astonished to learn the rest of the story. According to Luke, even Jesus’s own disciples did not expect that He would be crucified, let alone be resurrected, and that this fulfilled God’s purposes. However, Paul emphasises that this is God’s work; it is His plan being unfolded. Luke’s report of the Gentile response stresses God’s part in all this: ‘… all who were appointed for eternal life believed’ (Acts 13:48) and, ‘God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life’ (Acts 11:18). This response is not the product of human free will, rather it is the gifting of God. Similarly, in the letter to Titus Paul reminds us that we are saved by no merits of our own but by God’s mercy. The grace of God appeared bodily in Christ. This phrase refers to the incarnation of Jesus. God, by his grace, sent Christ to earth; because of Christ’s death on the cross, salvation is available to all types of people. In Titus Paul reminds us that Jesus’ coming to earth has profound implications for all who accept Him as their Saviour: Jesus’ coming to earth “…teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ…” That mercy is repeatedly extended during Jesus’ ministry, and not solely to the poor. He calls tax collectors from their desks, heals the daughter of a synagogue official, and encourages a rich young man to avoid entanglements and to focus on the reign of God. God’s offer of salvation to all means that salvation has been made available through Christ to everyone, without discrimination. The word “all” here refers to the universal offer: “There is salvation for all who believe and repent.” Christians are often in danger of a myopic focus on their own current issues and problems and never think about their place in God’s history, which arches beyond them. God is not the God simply of ancient history. God is the God of the living and continues to do mighty deeds. But God is also the God of the future. Failing to know and understand what God has done in history as revealed in Scripture can blind one from seeing what God is doing now and what God might do in the future that defies our expectations. We live in an age when many totally reject God’s influence in any area of life. Christians must renounce that attitude. We can do nothing to earn our salvation through any service we give or even by living morally upright. However, once we have accepted God’s salvation, his grace makes ethical demands of us both outwardly and inwardly. Grace teaches and enables us to say no outwardly to non-Christian activities and inwardly to non-Christian desires. Some people talk as if they were hypnotized and helpless victims of their own desires. But Christians are expected and enabled to just say no. God’s salvation by grace directs our lives in this present age. Fortunately for us, God did intervene on earth for the sake of hopeless, sinful humanity. Paul’s term refers to the time inaugurated by Christ’s appearing at the Incarnation that will be fully realized at his return. The grace that motivates and fortifies us to live for Christ in this present age will also be with us in the age to come—eternity. In the meantime, we are to conduct ourselves as fully devoted followers of Christ. God’s kindness and love appeared in the human form of Jesus Christ. None of us is a stranger to civil authority and wealthy people. To government we owe the obedience of citizens, and we maintain that we have no intention of imposing a set of beliefs on our citizenry. But we do raise our voice in support of those basic values on which our civilization is based. These include the sacredness of all human life, the welfare of the family, and the right of all people to worship according to their conscience. We see war as a grave evil and make every effort to avoid it. As for the wealthy, we recognize that they are indeed loved by God, and we know that conversation, rather than confrontation, can lead to the salutary and beneficial use of wealth. God’s love and kindness provide the only way for us to be saved. By his death, he saved us from our deserved punishment for disobeying God, taking that punishment upon himself. When we become Christians, we can experience personally the kindness and love of God provided for us through the death of Christ. Why did God save us? He offered this salvation because of his mercy alone, not because we deserved it by doing righteous works; indeed, we were incapable of righteous works (Titus 3:3). Paul knew this from experience—God mercifully called Paul as he travelled to Damascus to arrest Christians. Paul wrote to other churches: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”; “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” By identifying ourselves with the lost (Titus 3:3), Paul provided clear reasons for why we should be humble in our treatment of others. After all, once we too had been lost. Paul contrasts our lost condition with the overwhelming mercy of God. God’s mercy toward us provides the greatest reason for us to be merciful to others. Friends, God’s saving action was for people alienated from Him (Titus 3:3). People who desperately needed to be saved, not theoretically, but actually. Their condition, like ours, was so desperate that the only possible way we could be saved was for help to come from “the outside.” By sending Christ, God did exactly that! This is what we celebrate today: When Jesus came in the flesh at His birth God’s grace became available to all people and all kinds of people. The Advent message is that God will not withhold salvation from anyone on the basis of age, class, gender or race. Our willingness to submit to God and to live peaceably with others hinges on this understanding of our total destitution apart from the mercy of God. Jesus is the foundation of our hope and peace. That you and I can believe it is sheer grace! Amen.